Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council – Posting #30

Greetings and salutations! Yasmine here and I am a Superior AmeriCorps member living in Houghton, Michigan – also known as the Gateway to the Keweenaw, or two miles past the End of the Earth (as a favorite postcard once noted). This is my first blog entry, but as I have signed up for a second year of AmeriCorps, I hope it will not be my last.  I cannot believe it has almost been a year of service, but with reminders on completing my exit package, reality about what has been accomplished has begun to set in.  

Education is Superior AmeriCorps’ primary focus and encompasses seven counties in the Upper Peninsula. We have 35 full-time members that aim to meet the motto of the program: "Serving to strengthen communities through youth education, volunteer recruitment, and the promotion of community service.” Superior AmeriCorps members’ positive outreach and influence permeates throughout our local centers – from the toddlers in the preschools we serve, to the at-risk youth in alternative education programs, and the elderly helped by nonprofit agencies like Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly.

My site is B.R.I.D.G.E. High school which stands for Becoming Responsible Individuals Dedicated to the Goals of Education. It is an alternative high school with an average of 50 students throughout the year. Telling people I volunteer with the B.R.I.D.G.E kids is sometimes met with raised eyebrows and preconceived notions about what being an “alternative” student means. I challenge myself to leave the person with the consideration that “alternative” does not necessarily mean “problem child” and to instead associate “alternative” with words like “creative” or “thinking outside the box.” 

At the beginning of the year I started an after-school community service program to encourage B.R.I.D.G.E. students to give back to their community. The Copper Country Humane Society, Michigan Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway Program, Hancock’s Downtown Business Association, and various nursing homes in the Houghton County area are just a few of the community members that have benefited from students’ time. Now, with the school year coming to an end, B.R.I.D.G.E. students have given a  combined total of over 600 hours of their time.

Graduation was last month and I am not ashamed to admit I shed a couple of tears as I saw our graduates walking down the aisle to “Pomp and Circumstance.” For me, an entire year of service culminated in one moment – when one of the graduates approached me, handed me a single rose, and said she wouldn’t have graduated if it wasn’t for all the time I had spent helping her with her courses.  

As we are all coming to the end of our terms of service, I wonder, what moment stands out for you? 

Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council – Posting #29

Hello! My name is LaShauna Horton and I serve with the Community Health Corps, which is a National Direct AmeriCorps program in Grand Rapids. A couple months ago, another member and I had the opportunity to help with Ferris State University’s Eye-DOC Camp. The primary intention of the camp was to encourage minority students to become interested in college and, specifically, their School of Optometry.

Ferris State called on the AmeriCorps team to help design the program, facilitate team building games with the group, and chaperon the students while on campus. This was the first year of the Eye-DOC camp so they started out with just 15 students. Ferris State bused the high schools students to the college where they were able to stay in the dorms on campus.

While the students were there, they not only learned about optometry, but about life after high school as well. There were speakers talking about topics such as “Realizing Your Potential in Life,” “Focus on Your Future,” “Applying to College and Affording It,” “Why Optometry?”, and “Being an AmeriCorps Member.” The students also engaged in hands-on projects focused on the eye. They got to rebuild a model eye, discover how contacts work, and even dissect a cow’s eye. In between speakers and eye labs the students did the team building activities the AmeriCorps team planned. These activities required strong communication skills that helped them bond and play off people's strengths and not their weaknesses.

When we first started this camp we didn’t know how interested the kids would be in optometry; but by the end, the kids still wanted to know more! They were asking questions like, “Will there be another camp next year? If so, can we come again?” There was one student who initially didn’t know if he would be attending college after high school. But when he left the camp he was pumped up about his one more year of high school and then attending college. He didn’t know what he wanted to major in or what school he wanted to attend, but just the idea of him wanting to go to college made this camp worthwhile.

The end of my second and final year of AmeriCorps service is approaching very quickly. For the past two years I have helped my community grow. I have done things like increase access to health insurance, educate youth about tobacco, help patients afford their medication, and give out free books to read. I have also become a better person in so many ways. I have developed leadership, communication, and computer skills and health care training. This has been a very long journey, which I’m sad to see is drawing to a close…but I am glad I had the opportunity to serve. The AmeriCorps Pledge features words I will live by forever.

The AmeriCorps Pledge

I will get things done for America - to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.

Faced with apathy, I will take action.

Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity, I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.

Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council – Posting #28

Bridget Ferrigan here again, representing Michigan Campus Compact’s AmeriCorps*VISTAs. This will be my third and last post as part of the Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council. For most of us in the program, our year of service concludes at the end of July, which has prompted many of us to ask ourselves “What next?”

Some of us are continuing our service; I will be moving to North Carolina to serve with their Campus Compact for a second year as a VISTA. Some are continuing their education, going for Masters Degrees in public policy, business, and higher educational administration. Whatever our future choices for after our VISTA and AmeriCorps service, we all will remain committed to getting things done for America and transforming our communities however we can.

After AmeriCorps, I will still do service in my community. I am already signed up on the AmeriCorps Alums website, and will try to stay active in my new community as much as possible, whether it’s helping at the local humane society, doing a Habitat for Humanity build, or participating in MLK Day of Service. While I will be moving around in the next few years, I will try and make some kind of impact wherever I go.

I also plan on being an advocate for national service, among other things. As a VISTA, one of the things we are not allowed to do is influence legislation. This has been especially hard for me, coming from a political science background with many friends interested in politics and policy. It’s so cliché to keep saying that this is a time of change, but I truly feel it is. I look forward, after my second year of AmeriCorps, to raising my voice for the issues I believe in and asking my legislators to fulfill their promise of representing me to the nation. However, many of you reading this blog can already do that. Stand up for what you believe in—don’t hesitate to try and change what is in place because of the possibility of failure or because it is comfortable.

I also look forward to seeing what great things the people I have met over the last year will go on to do. I have faith the students I have met here at Olivet College will keep serving their community and continue to make a difference in the lives of people all over the country. I know they will step up and take charge when things need to be done. One of the seniors who went on our alternative winter break trip to New Orleans to continue Hurricane Katrina relief work has moved down there and has become a site leader for the United Church of Christ’s Hurricane Disaster Relief ministry. Two freshman who came up with service activities for MLK Day of Service in January have become very involved in the college community: they are members of the Black Student Union and the local chapter of the NAACP, one is active with the women’s group on campus, and the other is on the executive board of Student Government. I am also excited to see what amazing things my fellow VISTAs and Member Council representatives, as well as the college friends I have involved in AmeriCorps (shout out to City Year Detroit and the Michigan Campaign to End Homelessness!) will do following their service.

As we carry our commitment from this year to beyond, let us not forget our pledge to get things done for America, however we are best able to do that.

Michigan's AmeriCorps Member Council Posting #27

"There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well." -Walter Reuther

Greetings, this is Rachel, from Camp Fire USA. This is my third and most likely final blog posting here, and it’s caused me to ruminate upon my time of service. As my term draws quickly to a close, it has been amazing to think about how incredibly fast the last 24 months of my life have gone. I started my first term of service fresh out of college, unsure of what I would have to offer a place of employment, and with aspirations to do something more than just punching the clock.

The option to serve in AmeriCorps came unexpectedly, as a way for me finally express my desires for social justice into concrete actions. During the course of that year I got the chance to make an impact on the lives of the 45 children located at the after-school site where I was serving, and an even greater impression on the 15 first and second graders that I led through daily activities. To be honest though, I think I might have learned more from them, than they from me. Their constant honesty and daily strength and courage in the light of their less than perfect lives were a daily reminder of how blessed I am. I've learned greater patience, and understanding as I interacted with the families and schools in the community. I gave them my time and effort, and in return was given rewarding relationships.

As I entered my second term, AmeriCorps continued to offer me opportunities to learn more about who I am and what my strengths and capabilities are. As a naturally shy person, I've been presented with situations that have taught me to trust in my leadership skills, and to become comfortable in my own skin. The Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council gave me a chance to learn more about capacity building and a taste of non-profit management. This in turn has gradually led me on a path to continue on in the non-profit world, to pick a career path that will continue to make tangible differences in my community.

Like many other AmeriCorps members that are getting ready to graduate from their term, and attempt to find employment in a troubled economy, I worry about what my next step will be. Jobs are unfortunately scarce, but I know I will leave my two years of AmeriCorps a stronger, more capable person, with skills and strengths that will be unique and useful. My hope for you all is that you also find (or have found) your niche in the world to make a difference. May you all continue to serve your fellow man, and get things done for America.